Family

April showers bring May flowers and busier and busier days apparently, I can hardly keep up! I have done it again, tripped an fell of the earth (briefly). At this point I would be lucky to keep a string of blogs going longer then three days in a row. Where does the day go? I might have a few ideas, we had family over the Easter weekend, which was lovely (but kept me busy, no time for blogging there). Above is Isaac and Grandpoo (Isaac started that nickname much to my dad's chagrin) and the fuzzy teddy bear in his arms is Gavin, all sitting on a log at the Foulweather Bluff Conservancy. We had many egg hunts and great meals this last weekend, it was great, thanks guys!

It seems our daily plate keeps filling up before we know it. It starts with field trips to the beach with the preschool group. Isaac got to fly his first kite yesterday and had his first bloody nose all in the same day. We took a tip up to Fort Worden State Park, where we walked on the beach and took flash lights and explored the old WWII

 bunkers that still remain (that's sounds like a strange activity to do with two to four year olds I know) . Isaac was prepared with his daddy in hand and head lamp on head.

 I have to admit now that I have started quilting it is a bit addictive, as many new crafts are. So I have found a little time for that. I seem to be making random squares of animals.

My mother and I were working on a farm animal quilt, but I seem to have strayed to sea turtles and penguins, maybe adding them to the farm yard would be pushing it a little. 

I have promised our garden club that I would keep a daily blog (that hasn't happen obviously) of my gardening habits. So I will try and be diligent from now on, scouts honor (I'm not really a scout but it still sincere). Now I don't get into the garden everyday and blogging about it everyday just might embarrass me a little on how late I actually do get things into the ground, but if it's for the sake of helping another gardener out, what the heck tease away. Today while I didn't do much I added another section of a row of Swiss chard, secession planting works well for chard. I started another round of dill and basil in the green house on heat pads, this is about two weeks after the first sowing I did and that's it (I said I didn't get to much today). Well I hear someone up from their nap, gotta run. Hope your garden is growing!                                    

another beautiful day

Pinch me, I must be dreaming. Not one, not two, but three glorious, sunny days to spend in the garden (in April!). And what do I have to show for those days? Note nearly as much as I would like. It is easy to feel discouraged when you look at all there is to do, I keep looking at the box full of seed packets waiting to be planted, but if you take the time to look around at what you have already done it just might lift your spirit. 

The rhubarb has just taken off with these few days of warm

 weather and I can't wait till it's ready to pick, we make an awesome dessert with shortbread crust, rhubarb custard filling and meringue topping (it's not too complicated, really) and I love to make rhubarb raspberry jam from berries we froze last year, can't seem to grow enough rhubarb. 

The first half of the peas are up and growing and the buds are out on the fruit trees in the orchard. The asparagus in the green house looks great. I am particularly proud of it since it is seed saved from our asparagus patch.

My heirloom tomato forest seems to be happy (lets see if I can keep it that way). The potato hills, more like potato mountains (we got a little carried away), haven't sprouted yet, but at least they are there and mostly planted. 

By they way in case you were wondering how the preschool silent auction went, it was a hit. We could have used a lot more people to attend but as it way we made close to $1000 for our little preschool, it think the bake sale was the biggest hit. Thanks everybody! Well, can't waste (I mean spend) any more time inside on this computer, I must go out into the sun and get my vitamin D for the next month. Happy growing!

Alive

Not to worry anymore I have been found, I am still alive and kicking, much to contrary blogging activity. I didn't fall off the face of the earth, just merely tripped and landed under a rock for the last few days (more like week and a half). I have been just so busy and caught up in life, I kept feeling bad for not getting a blog done as each day passed, but as I did get to glimpse a few other's blogs they seem to be suffering from the very same anti time, too many projects disease (oh no, it's spreading). Anyway, while I was away I did manage to learn a few new tricks. I tried quilting for the first time, my mother quilts and it has just taken me a little while to get involved. My mother, sister and I spent a day all quilting together, it was great fun and this is what I made...  Two squares for a farm quilt, they're not quite finished but this goat and sheep will join the others in a blanket (eventually), good thing my mother has a whole bunch of squares done already. Katy is making a happy froggy crib quilt, I think great,  a fresh idea for baby (enough of baby pastels). Gardening season is not the ideal time to take up new crafts, but I guess I should think of it as a chance for my crafty side to grow a bit more. I also learned from my sis (thanks Katy) how to knit with wire and make some very cool knitted, beaded bracelets (show you next time). They are very quick and easy. Well I should trot down to the green house and open it up, it was 98 degrees in there yesterday, too hot. We seem to be having a couple of awesome days of weather, I'll take 'em (and a few more please). It has been lovely working in the garden and orchard. The apple tree are growing bigger every day and so is Gavin, the picture above is of his first time sitting on the grass by himself (isn't he the cutest), I don't know when he learned to sit up so well it happened in a blink. Well, see you soon (sooner than a week and a half I hope!)